National Researchers Study Wal-Mart's Impact on OKC Consumers

Centrella, Heidi R., THE JOURNAL RECORD

It's midnight. And whether you need a car battery, baby formula
or goldfish, there's one place consumers can count on - Wal-Mart.
Statistics now show that Oklahoma City is not only in love with Wal-
Mart, but even those who claim to hate the mega-superstore will go
out of their way to shop there. National researchers now are asking
why.

The why will be the focus of Chicago American Marketing
Association's BrandSmart 2004 conference Thursday at The Summit
Executive Centre in Chicago.

Last summer, Foote, Cone & Belding, Chicago and Shapiro and
Associates traveled to Oklahoma City, which was selected because Wal-
Mart has the latest of all its formats here. The group's goal was to
uncover the impact of the retail giant on consumers' shopping and
brand attitudes and behaviors.

We decided that when you look at national figures for a Wal-
Mart, you probably weren't getting the true story of what everybody
talks about - the year 2010, said Paula Ausick, senior vice
president and director of brand equities at FCB. And people are
always talking about how we're going to compete in a Wal-Mart world
in 2010.

While organizations high and low have discussed ad nauseum how to
compete in the coming Wal-Mart world of 2010, few have tackled the
consumer angle, she said, which is what sparked the study.

So we went to Oklahoma City because your demographics looked
pretty good against the U.S. census. So you're the new Peoria. And
we wanted to find out what happened to consumer behavior - how has
the Wal-Mart impacted consumer behavior, Ausick said.

The company conducted qualitative focus groups among shoppers in
the area, as well as a quantitative telephone survey of almost 400
people ages 16 and older about shopping in the metro. The group also
talked to local retailers about the effect of Wal-Mart on their
various businesses and advice they would give retailers about how to
compete in a Wal-Mart world.

The group learned a number of surprising things in terms of what
are the perceptions of Wal-Mart from a consumer angle.

While most people tend to think of a Wal-Mart shopper as an older
individual with a low income, the study showed the most frequent Wal-
Mart shoppers are Generation Xers, who now are having kids and
starting families.

The traditional supermarket, Ausick said, is like dad's
Oldsmobile - it's not the way to shop.

The Wal-Mart Supercenter does fulfill needs for people beyond
just price, but it's also how they spend their time. They're making
fewer trips overall in terms of shopping. …

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